More
than half (60.8%) reported they felt unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation

32.7% of LGBT students missed a day of school
because of feeling unsafe, compared to only 4.5% of a national sample* of secondary
school students.

The reported grade point average of
students who were more frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation
or gender expression was almost half a grade lower than for students who were
less often harassed (2.8 versus 2.4).

In fact, nearly
a third (31.1%) of the students who did report an incident said that school
staff did nothing in response.

GLSEN’sLGBT Educator Training Program for Secondary Schools in
NYC

More
than 9 in 10 educators (92.2%) said the training had caused them to do
something differently in their educational practices.

Of
children in sixth through tenth grade, more than 3.2 million—nearly one in
six—are victims of bullying each year, while 3.7 million bully other children
(Fox, et al, 2003).

Research
shows that half or more of all bullying can be prevented (Fox, et al, 2003).

Compared
to their peers, kids who are bullied are five times more likely to be
depressed. Bullied boys are four times more likely to be suicidal; bullied
girls are eight times more likely to be suicidal (Bullying Prevention is Crime
Prevention, 2003).

• In two-thirds of recent school shootings (for
which the shooter was still alive to report), the attackers had previously been
bullied. “In those cases, the experience of bullying appeared to play a major
role in motivating the attacker.”

• A recent study of a nationally representative
sample of students found higher levels of bullying in America than in some
other countries. Thirteen percent of sixth- through tenth-grade students bully,
10 percent reported being victims, and an additional six percent are victim-bullies.
This study excluded elementary-age students (who often experience high levels
of bullying) and did not limit bullying to school grounds. Several smaller
studies from different parts of the country confirm high levels of bullying
behaviors, with 10 to 29 percent of students reported to be either bullies or
victims.

• In a survey of American middle and high school
students, “66 percent of victims of bullying believed school professionals
responded poorly to the bullying problems that they observed.”

• Studies suggest only between 10 and 20 percent of
noninvolved students provide any real help when another student is victimized.